


Save You Some Time

by Eissel



Series: Moms Made Fullmetal Week 2020 [5]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Developing Friendships, Dialogue Heavy, F/M, Gen, Gen Work, Inspired by Poetry, Moms Made Fullmetal 2020, Parental Riza Hawkeye, Prompt Fill, Snapshots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:40:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24426673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eissel/pseuds/Eissel
Summary: Snapshots in a burgeoning relationship:1911- Winry and Riza discuss love, duty and the similarities of guns and automail.1915- As the aftereffects of Promised Day come to a close, Winry finds herself asking for some reassurance.1916- As Ed prepares to leave for his journey, advice is given and (thankfully) heeded.
Relationships: Edward Elric/Winry Rockbell, Riza Hawkeye & Winry Rockbell, Riza hawkeye/roy mustang (background)
Series: Moms Made Fullmetal Week 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1758514
Comments: 2
Kudos: 30
Collections: Moms Made Fullmetal Week 2020





	Save You Some Time

**Author's Note:**

> Rewatched Simple People with a friend last night, and that got me thinking about some Riza&Winry parallels… 
> 
> Day 5: _**Advice**_ or _**Comfort**_ or Bedtime Story  
> Poem: _My Mother Contemplating Her Gun_ \+ _The Mothers (Robin Coste Lewis)_

_ 1911  _

Winry didn’t understand the blonde Lieutenant much. Her steady brown eyes always focused on the dark visage of her commanding officer, her hands placed placidly in her lap even as her fingers curled like they were supposed to be holding something; the strangely feminine earrings that reminded Winry of her own mother.

She had been bursting with questions that day when those two strangers had barged into her home, but had ended up asking only one.

Luckily, she had a chance to ask them when Ed and Al came home next.

“Hey Winry.” Ed greeted as he walked right past her into the kitchen, Al dogging his steps. Blinking after him, she tried matching up what exactly was different about them now than when they had left out for East City a few months prior.

“Good morning Ms. Rockbell.” A voice cut through her musings, and Winry looked back at the doorway to see the First Lieutenant (she recognized the new star on her lapels) standing there, a soft smile on her face. “May I come in?”

“O-Oh! Of course Ms… ” Winry paused, not knowing how to refer to the woman. 

“You can call me Ms. Hawkeye.”

“Th-Then, yes you can come in Ms. Hawkeye, did you want-” before she could finish, there was a crash from the kitchen, and she winced. 

“Ed! What did you do?!”

“Nothing! Won’t you calm down?! Jeez, it’s not like everything is my fault!” Ed called back. 

“Brother… It often  _ is  _ your fault though...”

“Whose side are you on Al?!” As the brothers dissolved into bickering, Winry sighed, and risked a glance at the Lieutenant. The blonde seemed almost blissfully unfazed by the commotion, having taken a seat on the couch and looking over a book that had been set on the wooden table.

“I’m sorry about that Ms. Hawkeye.” Winry apologized.

“Don’t apologize, they’ve had spats like this in East City.” She sighed. “At least this one is over something small.”

“They do this in East City?!” Winry exclaimed. 

“I should amend my statement.” Ms. Hawkeye smiled. “Al doesn’t get involved in spats very often, but Ed certainly has had his fair share of rows with the Colonel.” Winry didn’t have anything to say to that, and could only stare, wondering why Ed had to be so combative with everyone he met. “Granted, half of those aren’t his fault, the Colonel just likes to rile him up sometimes.”

“He sounds like a handful.”

“Like you wouldn’t believe.” Ms. Hawkeye stated quickly, like if she didn’t get it off her chest now, she wouldn’t ever be able to.

“If you don’t mind me asking...” Her warm sherry eyes bored into Winry, seemingly searching her for something before she nodded minusculy. “If he’s so annoying, your Colonel that is… Why do you continue to look after him.” 

“... Well, I suppose part of it is my duty, he is my commanding officer and so I am mandated to look after him… No matter how much he annoys me...” The disapproving line her lips had formed softened slightly, almost as though she were struggling not to smile. “But… part of it is that… ” She paused, trying to figure out if she should continue. “Well, part of it is, is that my dream, and his dream are very similar. If we wish to achieve them, our best hope is to work together.”

To Winry, it sounded like Ms. Hawkeye had conflicting desires. 

“So, you look after him because you  _ have  _ to, and because you  _ want  _ to?” She simplified.

“That sounds about right.”

“Then… Do you love him?” Winry asked shyly. Ms. Hawkeye’s lips firmed up again into a line of disapproval, but her eyes were sad. 

“No, I don’t. And even if I did, a superior office cannot have a relationship with their subordinates.”

“Oh, okay.” 

“I think I’ve made this conversation a bit sadder than I should have.” Ms. Hawkeye smiled. “Let me make it up to you.” She patted the seat beside her. “Edward speaks very highly of your automail work.” 

“Of course! Granny and I make the best automail in the business.” Ms. Hawkeye put a hand on the book she had picked up. 

“So I’m certain you’re very familiar with this book,  _ On the Principles of Automail _ then?”

“It was one of the first books Granny had me read when I wanted to make automail.”

“Did you know that a lot of the processes that go into making guns go into making automail?”

“No, I didn’t...” Ms. Hawkeye flipped the book open, and searched for a desired chapter. 

“Ah, here.” She pointed at the section titled  _ Deep-hole Drilling _ . “For a lot of automail prosthetics, you have to make them hollow, to run wires through them, right?” Winry nodded her head. “Well, if order to say, make a rifle, you have to do the same thing, with the same process. Often with the same materials. For instance, a lot of high grade rifles are made with stainless steel, as are most automail.”

“Because the impurities in metals like pig iron will shorten the service life, and introduce potential harm to the patient when in direct contact with the wounded area.” Winry whispered.

“When it comes to guns, steel is preferred for the longer service life primarily.” She grinned crookedly at Winry. “Have you ever tried to hold up a block of steel by yourself before?”

“No...”

“I’ll tell you, if you aren’t prepared for the weight, it can really catch you off guard.” Winry smiled at the anecdote. But before she could ask the Lieutenant to expound on the story, Ed came back into the hallway, his automail broken in places. Winry saw red.

“Hey Winry...”

“Ed!” She shrieked, launching herself at him.

* * *

_ 1 915 _

She felt out of place in the hospital, but Winry wasn’t about to let unfamiliarity with the place deter her from her goal.

Knocking on the door, she waited for someone to allow her to come in.

“You can come in.” The steady voice she had gotten used to was now raspy and soft. Winry winced as she opened the door.

“Hello.” She greeted, holding up a bag. “I’ve brought some reading material.”

“Thank you Winry, you can put that down...” The other blonde paused, brown eyes sweeping over the crowded floor. She sighed with exasperation. “Just place it wherever there’s space. I’m sorry for the mess.”

“Oh, it’s not your fault Lieutenant.”

“Call me Riza Ms. Rockbell.”

“If you call me Winry.” She set the bag down in a clear spot beside a wooden nightstand. That done, she took a seat at the foot of the Lieutenant’s bed. “I heard about everything that happened.”

“Edward told you?” Surprise filled her voice. 

“I’m not really sure he was conscious of what he was doing. He kinda just let everything spill out.” Her eyes traveled to the thick band of gauze that traveled around the Lieutenant’s neck. “I-... Does it still hurt?”

“Not as much as it used to. I think part of it is the morphine they have me hooked up to.” She smiled wryly. “Now, I’m sure you didn’t come here to hear me complain.”

“...I think I’m just scared to be honest. I mean, Ed and Al both almost  _ died _ , and that time when we all fainted and all we could feel was that pain...” Winry shivered.

“I can’t say that it’s all going to be okay.” Riza said softly. “I can’t say that, because there’s always people who are trying to make others suffer, but I can say that it’s going to be  _ better. _ ” She placed her hand on top of Winry’s. “Edward and Alphonse are fine, Alphonse even had his body back. General Grumman is working to make Amestris a more diplomatic country, and hopefully, soon Ishval will be made independent.”

“How can you have so much hope for the future…?”

“I think it just comes with age.”

“Thank you-”

“Anytime Winry. Don’t be a stranger.”

* * *

_1916_

Winry waited for the call to connect and the person on the other end to speak up. 

“Hello?”

“Hi Riza!” She greeted sunnily. “I was just wondering if we could meet up in Central next week, there’s just some shopping I wanted to do before Ed leaves.”

“For a traveling gift, or for something more special?”

“Well, I know Ed. He’s been anxious about something, I know that it’s related to me, because he keeps finding excuses to avoid me, but I keep running into him all the time, and when I try to ask Al about it, he just stays silent.”

“... How long is it again until he’s slated to leave?”

“2 weeks now. It feels so far away, but it’s really just around the corner.” Riza made a noncommittal hum on the other end.

“I think I know what this is about. And it explains his behavior when he briefly popped into the office the other day.”

“Ed went to Central?”

“Yes, just last week, did he not tell you?”

“He said he was going to East City.” Winry huffed. “I can’t believe he lied to me...”

“If it makes you feel any better Winry, he probably didn’t even think about that.”

“I still thought we were past the secret keeping and the hiding...”

“A piece of advice, for someone who’d been stuck with her own idiot-” Winry stifled a giggle- “and has had to endure the ‘but I kept it a secret to make you happy’ speech many times, sometimes secrets have to be kept. No couple shares  _ all  _ their secrets between them. Edward was likely just being himself and failing to realize what his secret keeping might have meant to you. He’s at that age.”

“Oh, I guess you’re right. Still, I’m curious to what he was doing up in Central now. Won’t you tell me?”

“I think this secret has a right to stay private Winry. You’ll thank me in 2 weeks, even if you don’t like it now.”

“Aw, but I want to know!” She fake whined, twirling the cord of the phone around her finger. 

“I’m sorry Winry, but I can’t do that. Give Edward our good wishes on his journey, and if you feel lonely, don’t forget you can always visit us in the office.”

“I’ll pass along the message. And if I do visit, I’ll bring an apple pie.” With that, Winry hung up, feeling better about Ed’s secret keeping.

* * *

_ 2 weeks later _

Winry hid her face with her sunhat. 

Riza had been right.

Ed’s surprise would’ve been ruined if she had known beforehand. 

Admiring the simple gold band on her finger in secret, she carefully put down the hat and leaned into Ed’s chest.

“We’re already married you idiot.” 

“I-I know, but I wanted something you could remember me by when I go-”

“Oh don’t say that Ed. I won’t forget you. I don’t need a ring to remind me.” Laughing, she pressed a kiss to Ed’s reddened cheek.


End file.
